LANG Committee Report

Chapter 2: Health

Recommendation 1

That the Government of Canada suggest that the provinces include the language variable in health records, while respecting their jurisdiction, and that Statistics Canada use oversampling of official language minority communities in its next National Population Health Survey.

Recommendation 2

That Health Canada immediately confirm its commitment to provide a minimum of $10 million in funding for the initiatives under the “primary care transition” sub-component of the health component of the Action Plan for Official Languages, for fiscal year 2007-2008.

Recommendation 3

That as soon as possible Health Canada indicate its clear commitment to provide, through transfers to the provinces and territories, the networks coordinated by the Société Santé en français and the Community Health and Social Services Network the resources needed to carry out the key initiatives identified under Préparer le terrain projects, in the form of increased long-term funding, starting in fiscal year 2008-2009.

Recommendation 4

That Health Canada renew and increase its long-term funding for the language training programs currently coordinated by McGill University under the “training and retention” sub-component of the health component of the Action Plan for Official Languages, starting in fiscal year 2008-2009.

Recommendation 5

Subject to:

·               clarification of the respective responsibilities of member institutions, provincial and territorial governments and the federal government;

·               an in-depth evaluation of the use of the funding allocated in order to compare the cost of training a student outside the CNFS to that of training a student within the CNFS;

·               and finally including a spokesperson from each province and territory on the CNFS Board of Directors.

That Health Canada show openness to the funding proposal to be submitted in 2007 by the Consortium national de formation en santé (CNFS) for Phase III of its projects extending from 2008-2009 to 2013-2014.

Chapter 3: Immigration

Recommendation 6

That Citizenship and Immigration Canada, together with the provinces and territories:

·               Ask Statistics Canada to oversample Francophone immigrants in the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada;

·               Ask Statistics Canada to conduct a rigorous demographic study of Francophone immigrants in minority communities and the factors in their mobility;

·               Identify best practices for their harmonious integration into Francophone minority communities;

·               Completely re-evaluate the targets and definitions in the Strategic Plan to Foster Immigration to Francophone Minority Communities, specifically the anticipated increase in the number of immigrants settling in Francophone minority communities following the implementation of the Strategic Plan;

·               Establish a time frame and develop a rigorous follow-up mechanism in order to regularly verify the results obtained.

Recommendation 7

That, pursuant to his obligations under Part VII of the Official Languages Act, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, in making transfer payments to the provinces and territories under the Immigrant Settlement and Integration program, invite the provinces and territories other than Quebec to allocate to the Francophone community a proportion of these transfers that is at least one percentage point above the proportion of the province’s residents whose first official spoken language is French.

Recommendation 8

That Citizenship and Immigration Canada invite the provinces and territories other than Quebec to designate at least one community organization per province and territory to coordinate the integration and settlement of Francophone immigrants and that this agency be able to conduct independent recruitment initiatives.

Recommendation 9

That Citizenship and Immigration Canada intensify its efforts to recruit Francophone immigrants through its foreign embassies, and support Francophone minority communities’ recruitment efforts by adequately training and raising the level of awareness of embassy staff, and by guaranteeing the availability of printed information in both official languages.

Recommendation 10

That the Government of Canada negotiate an agreement with Quebec, the other provinces and territories, and postsecondary institutions, to find a formula that is satisfactory to all parties to encourage the recruitment of international Francophone students throughout the country in an equitable manner.

Chapter 4: Community Development

Minority-Language Education

Recommendation 11

That the Government of Canada fully respect the undertakings made in the Action Plan for Official Languages and increase the amounts in the federal-provincial-territorial agreements for minority-language education so that they reach $ 460.9 million between April 1, 2007 and March 31, 2009.

Early Childhood

Recommendation 12

That the 125,000 daycare spaces, whose creation the Government of Canada announced in the 2006-2007 Budget, include a specific number for Francophone minority communities, in a proportion that is at least equivalent to the proportion of Francophones living in each province or territory.

Recommendation 13

That, when the education agreements with provinces and territories other than Quebec are next renewed or when the budgets for minority-language education are not spent completely, these amounts can be used by the provinces and territories to fund the upgrading of French-language early childhood and preschool services.

Promotion of Education in French

Recommendation 14

That the Government of Canada, with the consent of the provinces and territories, conduct an awareness and information campaign directed at the Francophone minority communities with the following objectives:

a) to raise parents’ awareness of the benefits of enrolling their child in a French-language preschool and primary institution;

b) to encourage the continuation of French-language education at the secondary level as an asset in the child’s future career opportunities in an Anglophone majority environment.

Second-Language Programs

Recommendation 15

That the Government of Canada maintain its current level of funding at the least for second-language instruction programs, including immersion programs, and support the provincial and territorial governments’ efforts to set up adequate administrative structures in order to reduce the problems with access and accountability, all with the cooperation of recognized organizations that promote second-language learning.

Recommendation 16

That the Government of Canada increase the level of its investment in the agreement on English as a second-language instruction between the federal government and the government of Quebec.

Retention of Young Professionals

Recommendation 17

That the Government of Canada create a program, in partnership with the provincial and territorial governments and post-secondary institutions, to offer internships that will encourage the retention and return of Francophone students to the official language minority communities.

Support to Community Organizations

Recommendation 18

That the regular program funding of the Cooperation with the Community Sector subcomponent of the Community Life Component, Development of Official Language Communities Program, be increased by 50% for fiscal year 2007-2008 compared to current levels of financing, and then be increased proportionally with the overall budgets for Canadian Heritage’s Official Languages Support Programs, in order to reflect the additional effort required of organizations once projects are in place.

Recommendation 19

That all the funding provided to organizations under the regular program of the Cooperation with the “Community Sector” subcomponent of the “Community Life” component that is not for specific projects be provided in the form of grants.

Recommendation 20

That Treasury Board consider the specific characteristics of official language minority communities, including the obligation to take positive measures to foster the development of these communities, and introduce greater administrative flexibility in the development of its policy on transfer payments.

Recommendation 21

That the proportion of total funding for the Cooperation, with the “Community Sector” subcomponent of the “Community Life” component of Canadian Heritage’s Development of Official Language Communities Program, that is allocated to Quebec’s Anglophone community be increased and that priority be given to community organizations outside the Montreal metropolitan area.

Recommendation 22

That, insofar as it respects the spirit and criteria of the program concerned, Canadian Heritage, under the “Community Life” component of the Development of Official Language Communities Program, commit to respect the priorities set by the organizations representing official language minority communities and specifically include them in these agreements.

Infrastructure Development

Recommendation 23

That the Government of Canada establish an infrastructure fund in order to upgrade services that foster the vitality of francophone language minority communities, including early childhood services.

Linguistic Clauses in Federal Transfer Payments

Recommendation 24

That all federal transfer payments to the provinces or territories for a sector under provincial jurisdiction or shared jurisdiction include a clause allocating separate funding in order to work towards equality of services for francophone language minority communities.

Recommendation 25

That the Government of Canada, together with the territorial governments and the Francophone communities of the North, develop a strategy for Francophones in the territories to ensure that satisfactory services are available for all matters under federal jurisdiction, and negotiate specific clauses for Francophones in areas where responsibilities are transferred to the territorial governments.

Court Challenges Program

Recommendation 26

That the Government of Canada reinstate the Court Challenges Program or create another program in order to meet objectives in the same way.

Literacy

Recommendation 27

That the Government of Canada maintain its commitments in the Action Plan as to funding for early childhood literacy initiatives.

Recommendation 28

That the federal government establish a literacy program, in partnership with the provinces, territories and communities in order to offer Francophone communities outside Quebec and the Anglophone community of Quebec better opportunities to contribute to Canada’s knowledge-based economy.

Promotion of French

Recommendation 29

That the Government of Canada, with the support of the regional offices of the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, launch a campaign directed at Anglophones to promote French as a national language in support of the efforts made through the federal-provincial-territorial agreements for French as a second language instruction.

Media

Recommendation 30

The Government of Canada ensure that publications primarily serving the official language minority communities do not suffer financially from Canada Post’s decision to withdraw its contribution to the Publications Assistance Program and that Canadian Heritage confirm that it is maintaining the program beyond 2008.

Recommendation 31

The presence of community media be considered an important element of support to the vitality of the official language minority communities, and that the Government of Canada make these media major partners in its efforts to fulfill its mandate to promote linguistic duality and support community development.

Arts and Culture

Recommendation 32

That the arts and culture be considered essential elements for the vitality of the official language minority communities, that this be reflected in the follow-ups to the Action Plan for Official Languages, and that Canadian Heritage add adequate funding for arts and culture projects and the corresponding infrastructures in the “Community Life” component of its official languages support programs.

Recommendation 33

That Canadian Heritage, when investing in major infrastructure projects related to the Action Plan for Official Languages, add 1% of the value of the investment in order to include an arts project in the infrastructure.

Justice

Recommendation 34

That the Government of Canada continue the effort begun under the Action Plan for Official Languages to facilitate access to justice in both official languages and recommend the most appropriate method for establishing pools of Francophone jurors, in cooperation with the Fédération des associations de juristes d'expression française de common law.

Economic Development

Recommendation 35

That the Government of Canada maintain the Enabling Fund beyond 2008.

Recommendation 36

That the Government of Canada develop a policy framework for the economic development of the official language minority communities:

·               That is focused on the active offer of programs and start-up funding for projects, based on the specific characteristics of the communities;

·               That is under the control of the provinces and territories, while being developed in partnership with the Réseaux de développement économique et d’employabilité and the Community Economic Development and Employability Committees and with the federal economic promotion agencies and the departments involved in economic development.

Research

Recommendation 37

That the Minister for la Francophonie and Official Languages ensure that all federal institutions, consistent with their respective mandates, develop a community vitality strategy based on factual data and sustained researched and focused on practical results, and that a permanent fund be created to subsidize research on the official language minority communities.

Conclusion

Recommendation 38

That the Government of Canada immediately establish a high-level committee, comprising representatives from government, the communities, provinces and territories, to prepare the second phase of the Action Plan for Official Languages, so that it may be included in the 2008-2009 budget.

Recommendation 39

That the Government of Canada adopt a broad approach in its renewal of the Action Plan for Official Languages, including in particular:

·               Active involvement of the communities, provinces, territories and federal government in developing, implementing and evaluating the Action Plan;

·               Flexibility in identifying the key sectors targeted, for which the amount of funding can vary with the priorities set by the communities.